Coke’s ‘Hilltop’ Featured in Final Scene of 'Mad Men'

For more than four decades, the Coca-Cola commercial known
as “Hilltop” has been regarded as one of the most iconic pieces of advertising
of all time. Last night, the 1971 spot reentered the pop culture conversation
when it was featured during the final scene of the final episode of one of history's most celebrated TV shows.

The AMC series ended
its seven-season run Sunday night with Don Draper meditating at a spiritual retreat on the California coast when inspiration apparently strikes. A bell rings,
his eyes open and he smiles, at peace. The screen then fades to the famed Coca-Cola spot
featuring the jingle, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke”, suggesting that
Draper got the idea after a cross-country, soul-searching journey that concluded, appropriately, on a hilltop overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

“Hilltop”, in fact, was the brainchild of Bill Backer at McCann Erickson, the ad agency which acquires Draper’s firm in Mad Men’s final season.